Ex-Smoker Poses as Cigarette Storekeeper in a Hard-Hitting PSA From Brazil

Aim Is to Highlight What Happens When Smoking Doesn't Kill

By Alexandra Jardine.Published on Sep 01, 2015

Editor's Pick

This anti-smoking PSA from Brazil doesn't exactly use shock tactics to warn people to stop, but it grasps your attention in a very personal way.

The film, by the Brazilian state of Parana, takes professor and ex-smoker Joao Candido, who is fitted with an electronic larynx, and places him at the counter of a store selling cigarettes. Customers are filmed with hidden cameras as they interact with Candido, and he tells them how he used to smoke two packs a day. While never lecturing them -- in fact, he more sympathizes with them over their struggle to stop, need to stock up for the weekend and so forth -- the tone of his electronic voice makes everything he says deeply unsettling. And when he finally explains that he had larynx cancer, the message comes across loud and clear

The ad, by Curitiba-based agency Opus Multipla, aims to show that although smoking might not kill you, it can seriously mess up your life: a message we don't often get from anti-smoking commercials.